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Survey says majority of voters want some or all of health law repealed

The Washington Post: "A new Kaiser Family Foundation post-election poll suggests that a majority of people who voted on Nov. 2 favor repealing some or all of the health-care legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Obama earlier this year. ... Political strategists continue to debate just how much of an impact healthcare had on the 2010 midterms.

10 Nov 2010

Emergent BioSolutions awarded five grants totalling $1.2 million under QTDP Program

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced that it has been awarded five separate grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program to support continued development of its therapeutic programs in oncology and autoimmunity. The grants, with a total value of over $1.2 million, will fund Emergent's TRU-016 Small Modular ImmunoPharmaceutical (SMIP™), DRACO anti-CD3 SMIP, X1 TNF-based SCORPION™, X2 CTLA4-based SCORPION, and T-Scorps-based SCORPION therapeutic programs.

10 Nov 2010

NeoPharm, Insys complete merger

NeoPharm, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of new and innovative therapeutic applications of drugs for cancer and other diseases, today announced it has completed its merger with Insys Therapeutics, Inc., a Phoenix, AZ based pharmaceutical company.

10 Nov 2010

Doctor ties to drug companies decline, but remain high, survey finds

The Associated Press: "Doctors have sharply cut some financial ties to drug companies, thanks to increased scrutiny about relationships that critics say improperly influence medical treatment," a survey published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found.

10 Nov 2010

Study evaluates therapeutic hypothermia in children after cardiac arrest

When the heart is stopped and restarted, the patient's life may be saved but the brain is often permanently damaged. Therapeutic hypothermia, a treatment in which the patient's body temperature is lowered and maintained several degrees below normal for a period of time, has been shown to mitigate these harmful effects and improve survival in adults.

10 Nov 2010

Children with hypertension more likely to have learning disabilities, ADHD

Children who have hypertension are much more likely to have learning disabilities than children with normal blood pressure, according to a new University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) study published this week in the journal, Pediatrics. In fact, when variables such as socio-economic levels are evened out, children with hypertension were four times more likely to have cognitive problems.

10 Nov 2010

Federal inspectors crack down on corrupt drug company executives

"Federal inspectors want to prevent drug-company executives from doing business with the U.S. government when their companies are convicted of Medicare fraud," The Washington Post reports. New guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services say "executives can be barred from contracting with federal health programs when they knew, or if the inspector general concludes they should have known, about fraud at their firms."

10 Nov 2010

BSD Medical awarded two grants under QTDP Program

BSD Medical Corporation announced today that it has received the maximum award provided by the U.S. government for a single program for two separate grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project ("QTDP") Program.

10 Nov 2010

MicroAire and Arthrex enter agreement to settle ECTR patent infringement suit

MicroAire Surgical Instruments LLC and Arthrex Inc. announced today that they have entered an agreement to settle a suit accusing Arthrex of patent infringement and breach of contract. At issue was the patented technology that MicroAire owns for minimally invasive treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

10 Nov 2010

Doctors urge Congress to delay pay cuts — again

Doctors are renewing their campaign to get Congress to block a 23 percent cut to Medicare reimbursements that would begin Dec. 1, the Los Angeles Times reports. The cuts — part of a 1997 law designed to control Medicare costs — are a lingering issue that Congress and doctors typically address at least once a year.

10 Nov 2010

Biovista and Pfizer enter pilot research collaboration

Biovista announced today that it has entered into a pilot research collaboration agreement with Pfizer. The aim of the collaboration is to identify new indications for a number of undisclosed Pfizer development candidates, using Biovista's Clinical Outcome Search Space (COSS) technology.

10 Nov 2010

Boston Scientific announces first implantation of Vercise Deep Brain Stimulation System in Parkinson's disease trial

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced the first implantation of its Vercise™ Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) System as part of the VANTAGE clinical trial. VANTAGE is a multi-center, prospective trial designed to examine the improvement of motor function in approximately 40 European patients implanted with the Vercise DBS System for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

10 Nov 2010

CRi adds TRIO to Nuance multispectral imaging product family

Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. (CRi), a leader in multicolor imaging solutions for preclinical and clinical research, today announced the newest addition to the award-winning Nuance™ multispectral imaging product family for multicolor tissue and cell-based imaging. The TRIO system is compact, multipurpose and affordable, offering a simplified interface and versatile design to fit any microscope with a camera-mount.

10 Nov 2010

Gov't health IT spending attracts investments from all over

As part of its foray into health IT, AT&T has partnered with WellDoc, a Baltimore-based company that makes an FDA-approved mobile-phone application to help manage diabetes, The Baltimore Sun reports. "The telecommunications giant launched a new business segment last week that will focus on technology solutions for the health care industry. And WellDoc's software will be pitched by AT&T's huge marketing muscle to commercial clients ranging from hospitals to insurers to employers" (Sentementes, 11/8).

10 Nov 2010

Phytomedics awarded $244,000 QTDP grant for development of RA drug

Phytomedics, Inc., a transformational healthcare company developing a novel portfolio of drugs and consumer products solely derived from plant sources, announced today that it has been awarded a grant in the amount of $244,000 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program to advance the development of its lead product PMI-001 for Rheumatoid Arthritis. PMI-001 is presently in Phase 2b/3 development.

9 Nov 2010

Nursing homes fear Medicaid cuts under GOP-led House

The nursing home industry is concerned about pending Medicaid cuts, news outlets report.

9 Nov 2010

$Long-term androgen deprivation therapy increases risk of fracture in older men with prostate cancer$

Long-term androgen deprivation therapy increases risk of fracture in older men with prostate cancer

Men with history of fracture and comorbidities are at an increased risk of fracture after long-term use of androgen deprivation therapy, and initiating this therapy should be carefully considered in older men with localized prostate cancer.

9 Nov 2010

NeuroDerm commences enrollment in ND0801 Phase 2a clinical study of ADD/ADHD in adults

NeuroDerm, Ltd. announced today that patient enrollment has begun in a Phase 2a clinical study of ND0801, a new product for the treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) in adults. ND0801, based on a new, proprietary combination with nicotinic actions, is being developed as a dermal patch and will be evaluated for the treatment of cognitive impairment in several disorders including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and advanced Parkinson's disease, among others.

9 Nov 2010

Insuring your health: OTC medicines cut from 2011 flexible spending accounts

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "The health-care overhaul has taken some of the flex out of flexible spending accounts, which let workers pay medical expenses with pretax dollars. Starting in January, you'll no longer be able to use your FSA for over-the-counter drugs and medicines unless you have a doctor's prescription" (11/9).

9 Nov 2010

EntreMed to present data of ENMD-2076 Phase 1 study in multiple myeloma and leukemia at ASH 2010

EntreMed, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, today announced presentations for its Phase 2 oncology drug candidate, ENMD-2076. Data for the ENMD-2076 Phase 1 studies in multiple myeloma and leukemia will be presented by EntreMed investigators at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) to be held December 4-7 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

9 Nov 2010